BSWS CH-24 Mantis, Cicada and the Oriole Part-3

The battle on the bridge was divided into two sections now. First was a stalemate between Kakashi and Zabuza, both were currently enduring to see who between the two of them fall dead first. Second was the face off between Haku on one side and the Team 7 Trio on the other.

Haku didn't spend much time talking after he came to stop them. After announcing his intention, he spun on his left foot like a ballerina, picking up speed rapidly until he was a human shaped tornado. From his spinning form, a rain of Senbons flew out.

"Defend!!" Sakura said as she grabbed both end of her Shuriken linked chain and spun it like a whip in complex pattern. With the speed at which she swung the chains, it formed a hemispherical shield of afterimages in front of her.

Meanwhile, Naruto executed Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu and threw out a barrage of Shuriken himself. Sasuke meanwhile used Sharingan to the utmost as he defended Tazuna against the Senbons that got past Sakura.

After around a minute of this, Haku suddenly stopped and rushed towards them, running in a zigzag pattern like a lightning bolt. Moving amongst Naruto's clones, Haku destroyed them with a Senbon on each hand. One Clone, One Strike, That was all that Haku needed.

As if tacitly decided before hand, Just as Haku was about to reach Sakura, she switched with Sasuke. Sasuke leapt towards Haku with a Kunai on each hand and his Sharingan working in full power. Both of them pushed their speed to the max as they fought Senbon against Kunai.

Haku was like a gust of wind: twisting, spinning and elusive in his attacks. However Sasuke was like a snake, he kept watch on Haku with Sharingan and struck out the moment he saw a chance.

But right then, Sasuke made a mistake as he slipped on some ice, frozen by Haku on the ground while he was spinning around Sasuke. Right as Sasuke tried to regain his footing, Haku rushed forth and stabbed with his senbons.

But he realized the mistake he did the moment the Senbons touched Sasuke, or tried to at least. The moment Sasuke came in contact with the Senbons, he burst into a collection of Sakura petals that buffeted Haku and swirled around him like a mini tornado, blocking his sight, smell and hearing ability.

Before Haku could dispel this Genjutsu, a sense of danger like never before came over him. He immediately created an ice mirror in front of him to defend. However, to his utter surprise, the Ice Mirror was cleaved apart in two like a piece of tofu.

As the ice mirror pieces fell apart, Haku also dispelled the Genjutsu. In front of him, Sakura stood resolutely, with a compressed string of water attached to each of her fingers.

Staring at Haku, Sakura narrowed her eyes, "It's my turn now."

Haku dodged the next instant, just as the stone ground where he had stood was gouged out. It was as if an animal with large claws had slashed out with incredible power and speed. However, the assault didn't stop as Haku kept dodging the incredible severing strikes Sakura sent out.

The very air around Sakura let out a keening sound as it was forcefully cut apart bu Sakura's compressed water strings. Sakura was steadily walking towards Haku step by step while he dodged her attacks.

With every step, her fingers twitched at incredible speed, whipping out blade like attacks from her water strings. If her performance with her Shuriken linked chain was defense, then this was an attack that was ten times as deadly.

After dodging yet another deadly attack, Haku performed rapid somersault before leaping up in the air. He performed swift hand signs, finishing them in a second.

"Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirror Dome!!" Haku uttered as mist around them congealed and formed dozens of ice mirrors. The mirrors stacked around the Team 7 trio, forming a large dome.

"So you specialize in speed based attacks?" Haku said while looking at Sakura, "What a coincidence, so do I.."

Suddenly, Haku's image appeared on every mirror as he prepared to rain down the senbons. However, she was interrupted by an unexpected person.

"Not so fast!!" Naruto said. Haku's eyes turned towards him and she saw that he was once again ready with Multi-shadow clone.

"I gave taste of this to your friends back there. Its your turn now!! Naruto Uzumaki: Chakra Push Barrage!!!" Naruto clones rushed to perform kamikaze attacks at the mirrors surrounding them. Haku rushed from mirror to mirror to kill them as soon as possible, however Naruto was a clone factory.

Naruto lost ten to dozen clones for every mirror he destroyed, but he didn't stop until he was done breaking them all. Finally, Both Haku and he, knelt on the ground, tired with chakra exhaustion. However the difference was that Naruto had Sakura and Sasuke standing on either side to guard him, while Haku was all alone.

Haku pushed his limits to stand up and try weaving another hand sign for a jutsu. However, Sakura was Ready this time. Strings of chakra burst out from the ground and pierced Haku's limbs and body, stitching them together.

Leaving Naruto and Sasuke to watch over Haku, Sakura rushed to Zabuza and replicated what she did to Haku on him. However, she made sure to use Compressed water strings on Zabuza instead of Chakra strings, so that he would rip apart himself if he tried to move.

Once she was done securing Zabuza, Sakura rushed to give Kakashi some first aid. For the first time ever, she used Chakra String Stitching for the medical aid it was invented for. Once she had finished closing Kakashi's wounds, she applied some, some salves through the torn patches of his clothes. She gave him some painkillers for his pain and soldier pills to recover chakra faster.

"Good job Sakura," Kakashi said with an eye-smile "It seems your training didn't go to waste. Those Water Strings…. you invented them from your training in Water Ninjutsu?"

"Yes, a combination of the Chakra strings I use and infusion of compressed water chakra." Sakura said as she helped Kakashi stand up. She helped him walk up to Zabuza, who glared sullenly at Kakashi while kneeling right as Sakura had left him.

"What? Come to gloat at me? Or do you finally have the courage to kill me face to face?" Zabuza said with a glare.

Before Kakashi could reply, Sakura's head snapped towards the end of the bridge. Kakashi followed her gaze and narrowed his eyes.

"Well well well… it seems we have company.." Kakashi muttered before turning to Zabuza ".. and you have been double crossed."

"What??!" Zabuza exclaimed as he saw what was behind him by craning his neck.